Bearing and shaft asembly



NOV. 4;, 1947. s, M, ER 2,430,236

BEARING AND SHAFT ASSEMBLY Original Filed Sept. 1, 1943 IN VEN TOR; sTANLEY M. MEECI EE,

' ATT'Y.

Patented Nov. 4, 1947 UNITED STATES OFFICE BEARING AND SHAFT ASSEMBLYOriginal application September 1, 1943, Serial No.

Divided and this application January I, 1945, Serial No. 570,950

Claims. i

This invention relates to a bearing and shaft assembly and an objectthereof is to provide improved and simplified means whereby the oil orgrease sealing device, for example in the form of a felt washer, may bereadily removed and re newed adjacent the shaft and housing openingwhile the shaft is supported on its bearing.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved bearinghousing adapted to receive a shaft and provide a seal therewith in whichimproved mechanism is provided to renew the seal.

Other objects of the invention will appear here* inafter the novelfeatures and combinations being set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional elevational view showing a portion ofan elevator including the features of my invention, and

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking inthe direction of the arrows.

This application is a division of my application Serial No. 500,799,filed Sept. 1, 1943, for an Elevator.

In my parent application, above identified, an elevator is disclosed incomplete detail. In this application only those elements which areimportant to the invention defined in the .claims will be specificallydescribed.

As best illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings a frame member is providedincluding an I-beam 23 on top of which is a bearing box 29. In thecomplete elevator there will be a pair of spaced apart bearing boxes 29which support a horizontally extending head shaft 30 which carries ahead support assembly 3| upon which is mounted a pair of sprockets, oneof which is seen at 32. A sup port for the opposite ends of the shaft 30is provided by a pair of self aligning bearings, one of which is seen atI09. Said bearing N39 is preferably babbitt or bronze lined and is onlysemicylindrical in shape and supports the bottom portion of the shaft30, since the load on the shaft 38 is always in a downward direction.The bearing I09 is enclosed and protected by the bearing box 29 whichprovides a lubrication Well. Oil drip rings H0 are provided on shafttil.

Because of the great height of the head shaft of the elevator disclosedin my parent application above identified and because of the greatWeight on it, particularly when it is supporting conveyor mechanism, itis extremely desirable to be able to renew the felt washers l l l whichform the oil and dirt seal between the cylindrical openings on oppositesides of the bearing box 29 and the shaft 30 without requiring removalof said shaft 33 from the bearing I09. The bearing box 29 thereforeincludes a removable cap H2 which preferably receives an oil pipe H3.Oil is circulated through box 29 and a drain pipe, not shown. Thebottom, base or fixed portion of the bearing box 29 is in the form of amain casting i M which is rigidly attached to the I-beam 23. Thiscasting i It is provided on opposite sides with removable arcuatesegments I I5 which on their bottoms have tongues fitting in andinterlocking with grooves formed in the cooperating arcuate por tions ofthe casting H4. It will be seen that when the cap I I2 is removed thearcuate segments or portions H5 may be rotated to remove them from thecasting i it, whereupon they may be lifted from the shaft 30. When theparts are fully assembled, the felt washers l i l are received incontinuous circular grooves, half of each of which is formed in asegment H5, the other half in an arcuate edge of cap l 12. It isobvious, however, that when the cap I I2 and the segments I l5 areremoved, the felt washers H I may be readily removed by radial movement.In other words, it is not necessary to slip them over the free end ofthe shaft 30 since they are originally cut to place them on the shaft 30by radial movement which can be freely done when the cap H2 and thesegment H5 are removed. To reinsert a segment I Hi, the groove thereofis preferably fitted over the felt washer III with the segment on top ofthe shaft 30. The segment is then rotated with its tongue in the groovein the casting H4 until it reaches its normal position, as viewed inFigs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. When both segments H5 are thus replaced,the cap l l2 may be attached as by screws along the lateral edgesthereof with the grooves thereof receiving the felt washer l l I. It isthus evident that the seals provided adjacent the openings through whichthe shaft 30 extend into and out of the bearing box 29 may be readilyrenewed without removing the shaft 30 from the bearing I09. To providefor driving the shaft 3%! a drive sprocket H6 is keyed to one endthereof.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in thedetails and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto appended, and Iwish therefore not to be restricted to the precise construction hereindisclosed.

Having thus described and shown an embodiment of my invention, what Inow desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A bearing and shaft assembly including a bearing, a shaft on saidbearing, a housin for said bearing, said housing having a fixed part anda removable cap portion and having a felt receiving groove at a sideopening through which said shaft extends, a felt washer in said groove,the fixed part of said housing having an arcuate removable portion whichincludes the felt roove, there being a tongue and groove interconnectionbetween said removable portion and the adjacent portion of said fixedpart, said removable portion being removably held in place by saidremovable cap, whereby said felt washer may be renewed without removingsaid shaft from said bearing.

2. A bearing construction including a bearing member, a housing for saidbearing member, said housing including a base and a cap removablyattached to said base, said cap and base being formed to provide a shaftopening, a seal groove formed adjacent said shaft opening and partly insaid [cap and partly in said'base, said base having an arcuate slidablyremovable section which includes the seal groove, and overlappinginterlocking means on :said base and removable section providing-forremoval of the latter by rotary movement when said cap is removed.

:3. A bearing construction including a bearing member, a housing forsaid bearing member, said housing including a, base and a cap removablyattached to said base, said cap and base being formed to provide a shaftopening, .a seal groove formedadjacent said shaft opening and partly insaid cap and partly in said base, said base having an interfittingslidably removable section which includes the seal groove, andoverlapping inter-locking means on said base and removable sectionproviding for removal of the latter by rotary movement when said cap isremoved.

4, A bearing construction including a bearing member, a housing for saidbearing member, said housing including a :base and a cap removablyattached to said base, said cap and base being formed to provide a shaftopening, a seal groove formed adjacent said shaft opening and partly insaid cap and partly in said base, said base having a removable sectionwhich includes the seal groove, and interfitting interlocking means onsaid base and removable section providing for removal of the latter,said cap normally locking said removable section in said interlockingmeans.

5. A bearing and shaft assembly including a bearing, a shaft on saidbearing, a housing for said bearing, said housing having a fixed partand REFERENCES CITED The following references are :of record in the fileof this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,568,731 .Grifin et al. Jan. 5,,1926 2,217,201 Fast Oct. 8, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date280,029 Great Britain 1927 409,041 Great Britain 1934 100,526 Australia1936

